GMO Internet Plans to Launch Price-Stable, Yen-Pegged Cryptocurrency

Japanese internet conglomerate GMO Internet has announced plans to launch a yen-pegged ‘stablecoin,’ whose value will not be fully affected by crypto market volatility. The Tokyo-based company will, most likely, collaborate with a bank from Japan to develop the price-stable cryptocurrency, which should be issued in early 2019.

Dubbed GMO Japanese YEN (ticker symbol: GJY), GMO aims to create an entire ecosystem for its fiat-pegged stablecoin, with the next step being the foray into the international remittances and payments market.

The project bears at least a superficial resemblance to Tether (USDT), the USD-backed stablecoin which is used as a proxy for physical money on many cryptocurrency exchanges. However, GMO’s banking licenses in Japan will offer a fully audited alternative, compared to the debatable USD-backed coin and its issuers that’s been the subject of controversy and regulatory scrutiny due to lingering questions about its U.S. dollar reserves.

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The explosion of stablecoins is seen by many as a step to further the adoption process of cryptocurrencies, as it would give users an introduction to the main benefits of blockchain technology without having to experience extreme market volatility.

Earlier this month, New York-based and regulated platform Gemini secured US regulators’ approval to its own USD-tethered stablecoins, Gemini dollar – a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar.

GMO’s dominance

Commenting on the news, the company added in a statement “GMO Internet Group has already entered “exchange” and “mining” domains but was still conducting research in the payment domain to learn whether cryptocurrencies can be used as payment currencies in terms of their volatility. Under such circumstances, GMO Internet Group recognized the potential of stablecoins to achieve price stability and decided to start full-scale preparations to launch stablecoins to support borderless cryptocurrency transactions with a view to future use of cryptocurrencies for payment.”

GMO Internet has already its own cryptocurrency exchange, GMO Coin, and it opened a Bitcoin mining operation in September 2017. The giant Japanese company also offers products such as online advertising, internet infrastructure, internet security and mobile entertainment. GMO Click Securities has been the world’s largest FX provider by trading volume since 2012.